Ch. 12

I was in place at the designated meeting spot. Ranger and his men had left the night before and were now positioned around the area somewhere. I knew I wouldn't see them. That was the arrangement he had made with Joe, who wanted to handle this completely on his own. I understood that, and respected it. But I also knew I would do whatever I could to help if the situation arose, and I didn't put myself or the baby in too much danger. Joe and I were a team, despite his lovingly protective instincts.

Joe. I couldn't believe I was finally going to go home with him tonight. I was confident of that. I subtly placed my hand across my stomach for a brief moment, as I searched the area around me. And then I saw him and everything inside of me turned to mush. Joe looked like hell. He looked like he hadn't slept or shaved since I'd seen him at Ranger's. Still, right this minute he was the most beautiful sight in the world to me. Our eyes locked and held, as we each slowly appraised the other. Then, just as slowly, aware we were most likely being watched by Leslie and who knows who else, we approached each other. Joe pulled me into his arms and wrapped me in his scent and his warmth, and for a brief moment all was right with the world again. And then I felt Joe stiffen, his muscles tense and bunch and I knew the peace had ended, and the fight was about to begin. I extricated myself from Joe's hold, and turned around, anxious to finally see the man that had made my life hell for the last four weeks. And as I did, as I saw Leslie come out from behind some trees and come closer toward us, Joe instinctively pushed me behind him. At this, Leslie started clapping his hands together slowly in a mocking rhythm.

"So sweet, so touching. Let me tell you now Mr. Morelli that I allowed you to have this moment together so I could enjoy watching the moment when she's ripped away from you the way my son was ripped away from me when the cops hauled him off to jail from the courtroom. An act for which I can now thank you properly." Leslie extracted a gun from his jacket, and leveled it at Joe and me. Joe tightened the grip he had on my hip, a silent appeal for me to stay behind him. As if sensing this movement, Leslie again addressed Joe.

"Not to worry, Mr. Morelli, I'm not going to shoot your lovely wife. I figure she's much more use to me alive." He leered at me and a wave of nausea rolled over me. I was pretty sure this time it wasn't from the pregnancy. Just the thought of being with this guy had me physically ill.

"And, what, you think I'm just going to hand her over to you?" Joe spat. "You're crazier than I thought." And with the speed of lightning, Joe reached into his jacket and pulled out his own gun. Casting Leslie a wry grin filled with malice, Joe added, "And stupider, too, for letting me get my gun."

"Don't underestimate me, Morelli. Remember I told you I'm a gambling man? Well, winning the bet is no fun if the odds are too heavily in one's favor. I have every intention of winning. But victory will be much sweeter when attained on a more level playing field."

Crap! This guy was crazy. Instinct told me Leslie wasn't lying when he said I wasn't in mortal danger. No, Leslie definitely thought it would be better revenge on Joe if he were to take me alive, for Joe to know I was out there somewhere he couldn't get to me. So, maybe he didn't want me dead, but I had a feeling he didn't hold that same sentiment for Joe. He might prefer Joe alive to mourn my loss, but I knew that if it came to it, he would still shoot Joe in an instant if he had to, either to get to me, or to get me away. I wasn't about to let this idiot shoot my husband. Sure Joe was armed too, but I was afraid he would either play it too safe, worried that I would get hit in crossfire, or he would purposely put himself in harm's way to deflect the danger away from me. He knew as well as I did that even if Leslie did manage to grab me, he wouldn't get me out of here. Ranger and his men were out there somewhere waiting to stop him. I couldn't stand by and let Joe sacrifice his safety for mine. Not when he was in more danger of getting hurt than I was. Leslie wouldn't shoot me, and he had no chance of getting me away from here, but what good would that do me if Joe was dead.

It was up to me. I knew I had to be the one to detract the dangerous attention away from Joe. I thought about what Leslie had said about his son, then I gave a brief thought to the child I was carrying, and all of a sudden a plan to get us out of this popped into my head. At the bottom of this whole mess, right or wrong, was Leslie's grief at losing his son and the loneliness that likely followed. That grief was something I could relate to now. If I could play on his loneliness, make him feel like I was on his side and he wasn't alone anymore, then I was hoping I could get to him and disarm him. Because I was becoming increasingly surer that to get to me, Leslie would shoot Joe. I just had a gut feeling that although revenge on Joe would be nice for Leslie, more than anything what he wanted was compensation for the loss of his son and I appeared to be it. Therefore, I had to get away from Joe to keep him safe.

Slowly, I started to ease out from behind the cover of Joe's rigid body. But Joe was too attuned to me, aware of every move I made. Each time I tried to step around him, he would put his arm out and shove me back behind him. Damn insufferable arrogant male. God, I loved him so much. Still, it was obvious I wasn't going to get any physical distance from him until I got some emotional distance. So, I did what used to come so naturally for me where Joe was concerned. I started a fight.

"Fellas, Fellas, all this fighting over me is flattering, really. But I can make my own choices. And Joe, I think I'm going to go join Mr. Leslie over there." Temporarily taken off guard by my statement, Joe released his grip on me to turn his attention my way. I used the opportunity to quickly move away from him, shooting him a look I hoped would make him understand my motives and intentions. Not that I figured that would make much difference to Joe. He'd still be pissed at having his role as my protector taken away. Sure enough, the minute Joe realized I had gotten too far away from him to shield me anymore, fury blazed in his eyes and he yelled "Steph, what are you doing?"

I didn't want Joe distracted with worry, didn't want him making a messy mistake that could endanger him. I had to make Joe understand my desire to be his partner in getting us free and away from this idiot. "I'm finally getting away from you, you big Jerk," I yelled back. Surely, Joe would be able to figure out from that what I was doing and just let me go. I hoped.

Instead, Joe tried to pursue me, but Leslie trained his gun on me, stopping Joe in his tracks. I needed the gun off of me so I could get closer to Leslie and get it away from him. I raised my eyes, which had been staring at the gun pointed at my chest, to look directly at Leslie. What faced me were crazy eyes. Eyes that had lost their sight on reality. Making the owner of those eyes that much more dangerous. I couldn't think about that. I was no expert at disarming anyone, but right now the adrenaline was pumping through me, and the desire to keep my husband and child safe was so strong, it was making me feel like I could do anything. And I would. I had learned enough moves from Joe and Ranger that I believed I could get the better of this madman. With the distance that now existed between me and Joe, Leslie wouldn't be able to cover both of us at the same time. It was time to convince Leslie once and for all I was on his side so he would focus his attention back on Joe, allowing me to get to him. I turned to face Joe, who was looking at me with narrowed eyes and a tight line to his mouth. Man, I wanted to kiss that scowl right off his handsome face. But first things first.

"Look Joe, I decided I don't want to be married to a cop. I thought I could handle it, but this whole thing has made me realize I can't. I'm being held at gunpoint for God's sake. I'm really sick of that. Plus, I don't like hearing all these tales from your job, like how you put this poor man's son in prison for no reason." I creased my brows together and threw in my best sneer for good measure before adding, "No wonder you never want to share the details of your cases with me."

I could barely force the words from my mouth without choking on them. I just hoped that in Leslie's crazy mind he'd believe what he wanted to be the truth and I'd be successful in convincing him I was on his side. He still had his gun pointed at me so I decided to go for broke and see how far I could take this. Far enough, I hoped. Turning my attention to Leslie now, I said, "Wouldn't it be better for him to be left alone, knowing it was my choice? That's certainly much more likely to destroy him than thinking I was taken unwillingly. Do it that way, and you'll never have any peace. I mean, he's a cop. He'd never stop looking for me. You and I both know that. Let me go and I'll leave him right now and there won't be anything he can do…to you or to me."

I could see his gun hand shaking now, unsure. My nerves were frazzled and I felt at my breaking point. I wasn't sure how many more lies I could tell and still be convincing. Joe had never once taken his gun off Leslie, but he'd never go after Leslie while he held a gun on me. It really was up to me and I just wanted this over with now. I held my breath and waited to see what Leslie would do. Leslie's eyes flitted from me to Joe. I smiled cautiously at him, wanting so much for him to believe my stupid story. All I needed was for him to focus his attention on Joe so I could get behind him and disarm him. After several seconds that felt more like hours, Leslie swung the gun over to Joe. I silently sucked in my breath. I knew at this point I wasn't supposed to care what happened to Joe, so I had to carefully hide my emotional reactions and focus on the task ahead, now that I was free to do so. I slowly drifted toward Leslie as he started talking to Joe.

"Well, it looks like your woman's defected, Morelli."

"Looks like it. Can't say I'm all that surprised. She always was a hot-headed little bitch. Not to mention stubborn. Once she makes up her mind about something, there's no convincing her otherwise. I thought I could tame her with marriage, but a leopard and its spots and all that crap." My eyes widened and I momentarily halted my steps. OK. So I knew what Joe was doing. He'd finally decided to play my game. And by further convincing Leslie we were now on opposite sides, Leslie seemed to have forgotten all about my presence as I moved closer toward him. Still, it wasn't easy hearing the remarks Joe made. Remarks that at one point in time he might have meant. I quickly glanced over to Joe, and saw so much love looking back at me I felt more empowered than ever. A man like Leslie, consumed by hate, wouldn't recognize the connection that passed between Joe and me but I felt it clear to my bones. Leslie was chuckling at Joe's words, and Joe started laughing too. All of a sudden, they were temporarily bonded over man-hating bitches. Apparently, Leslie's ex-wife had been one as well. Imagine, not wanting to stay married to a psychopath and be a mother to a thug. Huh! Closing my mind to what I was hearing, focusing only on what needed to be done to keep all of us safe, I set off for Leslie once again. I was close, getting closer every second, but still he was just out of reach.

"Now that it's just me and you," Leslie said, "why don't you put your weapon down."

Joe speared me with a quick glance. Noting that I was in a good position to Leslie, he slowly leaned over and placed his gun on the ground. What an amazing show of trust, putting his life completely in my hands. I allowed myself a quick moment to revel in that before getting back to business. Now that Joe was no longer armed it was more imperative than ever that I bring Leslie down. Leslie was so cocky, so sure he had won, he didn't ask Joe to move the gun away from himself. He simply cocked his gun and pierced Joe with a glare of concentrated fury and hatred, effectively ending the bonding moment they recently shared. Maybe now that I'd "left" Joe willingly, Leslie didn't care if he kept him alive or not. Maybe after everything I'd already done, Leslie was going to shoot Joe anyway. Panic at that thought sent another wave of adrenaline racing through my veins. In a blur of motion I grabbed a heavy stick that I had scoped out, lunged toward Leslie, and brought the stick against the back of his head. He staggered, blood rushing from the wound. In blind rage, he spun around to retaliate against me. I hit him a second time with the stick at the same time that I heard a gunshot, and realized that Joe had retrieved his gun and taken Leslie down with a non-lethal shot to his leg. Whatta guy. I'm not sure after all this I could have been so restrained.

Joe raced over and stood above Leslie, glaring down at him as he writhed and moaned in pain from the blows to his head and the shot to his leg. I swear for a minute Joe contemplated getting one good kick in as well, then decency got the better of him and he simply reached down and cuffed him. Although he did wrench his arms up pretty high behind his back when he did that. Apparently, even decency has its limits. At the end, everything had happened so fast, over in an instant. Now, events were unfolding in time that was as equally slow as it had been fast a few moments ago. I looked at Joe, his muscles bunched, jaw clenched, handcuffing Leslie, and just absorbed the sight of him in all his capable, macho glory. He looked wonderful. Then I looked down at myself, in one piece, without as much as a scratch on me. Finally, my gaze settled on Leslie, the man who had caused me so much misery these last few weeks, but who had not fared as well as Joe and I in the end. It all seemed so surreal that I felt I needed some sort of physical and verbal assurance. I needed to touch Joe, to hear him say everything was OK. I waited for him to finish with Leslie, and when he stood back up, I placed my hand on his chest and met his gaze.

"We're OK?"

"Yeah, we're OK," Joe crooned as he smiled at me and lightly brushed his hand down my cheek. "Listen, I hate to leave you right now, but," Joe motioned to Leslie, "I want to take this bastard to Ranger for safekeeping until I can get some cops out here to haul him in. After that, I'm not leaving you for a very long time."

I smiled and nodded my head. Joe reached down and yanked Leslie to his feet, dragging him away amid his protestations and squeals of pain. I had no sympathy for him, and no desire to even look at him again as Joe took him away.

I stood there alone, trying to process everything that had happened and how it had ended successfully. I felt my stomach again, reassuring myself that the baby and I had made it through this, just as I knew we would. I had no idea how long Joe had been gone, but suddenly he was standing back in front of me, in exactly the same spot he had left me. Joe rubbed his hands up and down my arms.

"Steph, honey, I left Leslie with Ranger to wait for the cops, although I heard sirens so it shouldn't be long now. Ranger took it upon himself to call them when he heard the gunshot."

I blinked up at Joe and took a few deep breaths, trying to focus on what he was saying.

"Ranger?"

"Is fine. He was far away enough from the action, and Leslie certainly isn't a threat to anyone anymore in his condition."

"Good." Hearing Joe say that everything was under control, it was finally starting to sink in that the ordeal was over. The shock was wearing off and with my head clearing, I thought proudly about how I had been instrumental in making it happen. And that made me feel even better. I knew Joe and I made good partners. Should I gloat now, or wait until later? Maybe now wasn't the best time. Despite the successful outcome of today, Joe still looked like he could spit nails, and there were more important things to discuss anyway. Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming urge to tell Joe about the baby. Except that when I looked into his eyes, I got lost in the depth of the emotion I saw there, and all I managed to say was, "We're OK," again, although more as a statement than a question this time.

Joe's mouth creased into a tight line as he cupped my face in his hands. "Steph, I assure you I'm fine. Ranger's fine. I'm beginning to wonder a little bit about you," he said, smiling as he tucked a piece of stray hair behind my ear, "but you really don't need to keep saying it."

"I wasn't referring to you. Or Ranger, for that matter," I said, as a smile slowly crept across my face. This was it. If I could manage to gather the words together, and stop talking in riddles, I was about to tell Joe we were pregnant.

"You said 'We're OK.' If you didn't mean me or Ranger then who were you talking about?"

I opened my mouth, determined to tell Joe the good news, when Ranger and the Merry Men walked up to us. My eyes locked with Ranger's and a knowing look passed between us. Joe noticed it immediately.

"Alright! What's going on here? Why do I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't know something important."

I looked around at Ranger and the guys, who were smiling at me, and then back at Joe who looked so adorably perplexed I couldn't wait another second to spill the news, even if we now had an audience.

"When I said 'We're OK', I was referring to me and," I gently placed my hands on my stomach, "and Junior Morelli here." Joe looked stunned for a minute, then a beautiful, bone-melting grin erupted on his lips. He raked his fingers through his hair, grinning like an idiot.

"I'm going to be a father?" Joe asked, seemingly awed by the news.

"Seems so, yeah."

"When? How far along are you?" His excitement was so palpable, I couldn't help but start grinning like an idiot with him.

"I'd say you have about 7 months to get used to the idea."

"There's no way I'm going to need that long, but it will give me some time to get the room all fixed up." Joe still had his hands on his head, and was turning in a circle to encompass everyone in his excitement. Turning to look back at me, his voice thick with emotion, Joe whispered, "Oh, Steph, you're pregnant." I was beaming, Joe was beaming, then all of a sudden he wasn't beaming. All of a sudden, the clouds had come out and started raining on our parade.

"You knew you were pregnant and you went along with this operation anyway?" Joe stood with his arms crossed over his chest, scowling at me, when only seconds ago he was happier than I've seen him in a very long while.

"I knew you were going to be upset about that, obviously, and I've given a lot of thought to what I want to say to you. All I ask is that you wait to yell at me until you've heard me out completely. Agreed?"

Joe gave a small, imperceptible nod, as if even that gesture was too much effort to give me right now. I better talk fast. "Alright," Joe said.

"Well, Junior here was really anxious to meet his daddy, and I had all the confidence in the world that you wouldn't let…" Joe grabbed me into his arms and cut off my explanation with a kiss, letting me know no explanation was necessary. My body relaxed and I melted into Joe, accepting his kiss and returning it. A kiss of relief, of understanding, of shared joy.

"Does this mean you forgive me?" I asked when Joe finally ended the most glorious kiss I could ever remember getting.

"Steph, you left my cover – a risky move by the way," Joe said, trying, but failing to look stern, "but one that paid off. You lulled Leslie into a false sense of security, you distracted him and made him confused. He couldn't cover both of us in two different locations and when he thought he should cover me because I was the most dangerous to him, you proved him wrong. I guess he didn't know about your penchant for causing trouble." Joe cupped my face and gazed at me with naked adoration that stole my breath. "You were brilliant today Steph, there's nothing to forgive. I'm so very proud of my wife."

And just like that the tears that I'd been holding at bay started burning the back of my eyes. It amazed me to hear Joe say he was proud of me, when I was expecting his anger. And I have to say I was fairly proud of myself. I had thought my actions out, then followed through in deed, as opposed to winging it and just getting lucky as I had done with so many of my skip retrievals in the past. And having proven to myself that I could do it, I felt ready to take on a new challenge. Parenthood. But with Joe and me working as a team, I knew we could tackle anything. As if Joe plucked my thoughts right out of my head, at that moment he grinned at me and said, "We make a great team."

NOW it was time to gloat. "Told you so, Mr. Morelli."

"That you did, Mrs. Morelli, that you did."

THE END!